Moralia in Job 15

ARGUMENT. 1. What St. Gregory decreed concerning the primates among the African bishops. 2. Whether Columbus was then primate of Numidia. 3. St. Gregory's labors against the Donatists. With what success. 4. Certain things worthy of note concerning the judging of accused bishops. Concerning ecclesiastical immunities. Concerning lawsuits. From what things monks are exempted. 5. He abolishes depraved customs. 6. Concerning the testaments of monks. 7. Concerning the goods of fallen and deposed priests. 8. The dedications of oratories then very frequent. (A.D. 590 and 591.) 1. It was the custom among the African bishops that in each province one should be held among them in the place of primate or metropolitan, who should be senior in ordination;

whence he was called not 「primate,」 but 「elder,」 or 「bishop of the first see.」 The Church of Carthage alone, among the rest of the well-nigh innumerable provinces of Africa, enjoyed a perpetual primacy. Since, therefore, episcopal sees had been established even in tiny and unknown villages (whence the knowledge of the African Church is well-nigh unknown and obscure), it often happened that the bishop of an ignoble town presided over the remaining bishops of his province as primate. As this seemed incongruous to St. Gregory (as indeed it was), he judged it best that, first, the primate be chosen not according to the order of place (Book I, letter

74)—namely, either on account of the antiquity of ordination, or on account of the dignity granted to the see—but rather with regard had to morals and merits. Secondly, that the primate should reside not everywhere, as the custom was, throughout the country estates, but in one of the cities, that he might the more easily be able to resist the ambushes and endeavors of the Donatists rampaging in Africa. Thirdly, he forbade that those who had come to the episcopate from the Donatists should be able to attain the dignity of primate. But he speaks of the Donatists who had returned to the faith and unity of the Church:

Let it suffice, he says, for them to take charge only of the care of the people committed to them, and not also to precede, in the attaining of the summit of the primacy, those bishops whom the Catholic faith has both instructed and begotten in the bosom of the Church (ibid., ep. 77). This Gregory wrote to the bishops of Numidia, while holding valid their remaining customs, which as suppliants they had petitioned Pelagius II to have preserved for them. 2. Those who, with Baronius (On the year 592, no. 4), assert that Columbus the bishop was then primate of Numidia, stray altogether from the truth and are refuted by Gregory himself, who wrote to Columbus: «Therefore be solicitous toward the primate of your synod.» To him was written epistle 49 of book iii, in whose heading is read:

«To Adeodatus the bishop, primate of the province of Numidia»; and St Gregory exhorts him to strive with all attentiveness and sagacity to discharge the office of the primacy, which he holds by God's authority. A little further down he advises that Columbus above all others be employed as helper in all things. Victor succeeded Adeodatus in the primacy, concerning whom it is said in epistle 28 of book xii, written to Columbus: «We have taken care to write to Victor our brother and fellow bishop, who holds among you the place of the primacy.» Yet in the chief affairs of the province of Numidia the holy pope is accustomed to write to Columbus, as though he had appointed him vicar of the holy see, which nevertheless he is nowhere read to have done. 5.

By Gregory's singular diligence toward the African Churches it was brought about that the Donatists, formerly tumultuous, should at length grow quiet. Indeed it did not suffice for the most vigilant shepherd, against those wolves raging into the flock of Christ, to rouse other shepherds subject to him to vigilance and constancy—by writing very many letters to them, and by a penalty inflicted upon the negligent and hirelings (Book i, ep. 77; book ii, ep. 48; book iv, ep. 35; book v, ep. 5);

but he also asked Gennadius, the patrician and exarch of Africa, who was illustrious for many exploits gloriously accomplished in war, that he should crush the attempts of the heretics who were raising their necks against the Catholic Church, bend their proud necks, and take away all license of doing harm (Book i, ep. 74). Afterward, when he had learned that through the excessive indulgence of Pantaleo, prefect of Africa, toward the heretics it had come about that their boldness increased day by day, and that they were growing insolent against the priests of the Catholic Church by rebaptizing those already baptized by them, he rebuked the prefect for his sloth, and how grave a sin he lay under by granting heresy the occasion of creeping back, he most freely admonished (Book iv, ep. 34). At length by the frequent admonitions of St

Gregory's admonitions—now to the bishops, now to the prefects and magistrates, now to the Emperor himself—a council was held in which, chiefly by the striving of Dominicus, bishop of Carthage and primate of all Africa, it was determined that the heretics were to be investigated by the bishops and restrained (Book v, ep. 5); and that those who should neglect to carry out this decree were to be punished by the deprivation of their goods and dignities. The pope praised the zeal of Dominicus; yet he did not in every part approve the decree concerning despoiling the bishops who should more negligently attend to this matter.

We conjecture that the Donatists at length came to their senses, or grew quiet, from this: that the holy pontiff, thereafter writing more frequently to Dominicus and to other bishops of Africa as well as to the emperor's ministers, nowhere any longer treats of coercing them, after the fourteenth indiction. 4. Since it is not permitted to pursue in fuller style the other matters that commend the first year of Gregory's pontificate, we shall pluck out from his letters, not yet touched upon above, only certain things more worthy of note. He willed that bishops be judged only by a synod, even if they were guilty of graver offenses, as he intimated not obscurely in the case of Blandus, bishop of Hortae (Book i, ep. 33). That the ecclesiastical enclosures were then held as places of asylum, epistle 37 proves.

But which places ought to be understood as covered by «ecclesiastical enclosures,» the notes to this epistle teach. Since that most holy man greatly abhorred the din of the courts, if any occasion of litigation should arise among bishops, clerics, monks, or even noble laymen, he would advise that, for settling the controversy, arbiters be chosen who, with no or the least expense, cutting off the frustrating delays, might render to each of the litigants his right. He himself, if any question should arise concerning boundaries and estates between the agents of the Roman Church who managed its lands and the possessors of the neighboring fields, wished such judges to be chosen. With what disposition he was toward lawsuits, he could not better disclose than in these words:

«Not only do we never wish that quarrels once at rest should be stirred up; but also those wicked things that are brought forward abroad, we hasten to lull to sleep by every means» (Book i, ep. 9). With how great zeal he took care to remove monks from courtroom lawsuits and disturbances, his epistle 69 attests: for when John the abbot had suggested to him that he had very many affairs on behalf of his monastery, to which he could scarcely attend without loss to regular observance, it seemed best to the provident father that the care of protecting this monastery against litigants be entrusted to a certain Faustus, chancellor of Romanus the ex-praetor, and that a salary be established for him in return for the labor bestowed.

«For it is expedient,» he says, «that at a small inconvenience the servants of God remain quiet, free from the din of lawsuits, so that both the benefits of the cell may not perish through negligence, and the minds of God's servants may be freer for the Lord's work.» This seems the first origin of commendatory abbots; who—would that they were such as to exempt God's servants from all business, not plunge them into lawsuits! 5. In epistle 44, to Peter the subdeacon, who managed most of the Church's patrimonies in Sicily, he commands him to amend very many customs by which he knew the Church's tenant-farmers to be harassed, and that whatever had been unjustly exacted be abundantly restored to the peasants.

Nay more, fearing lest Peter should carry out his commands less strenuously, he threatens him with the Last Judgment, and closes the letter with these words: «See that you keep all things without diminution, because concerning these things which I write to you for the preserving of justice, I am absolved, and you, if you neglect, are bound. Consider the terrible Judge coming, and let your conscience now tremble at His advent, lest then it fear without cause, when before Him heaven and earth shall have trembled. You have heard what I wish: see what you do.» 6. In the same epistle it is read that John the monk, being near to death, had appointed Fantinus the defensor his heir to six unciae, that is, to half of his goods. This St Gregory does not disapprove.

But lest you should thence infer that it was then permitted to monks to make a will, read the note by which we have illustrated this passage. Consult also our Mabillon in the Annals of the Benedictines, at the year 599, no. 31, and at the year 601, no. 6. 7. From the aforesaid letter we have learned how anxiously St Gregory took care lest those whose ministry he used in the Church's affairs should invade the goods of priests and other clerics who had lapsed and been cast down from their rank—from which indeed grave scandal could have arisen; for those thus cast down would doubtless have complained that they had been removed from their place and thrust into monasteries for penance, precisely so that their goods and their resources might lie open as prey to the pontifical ministers. St

Gregory decrees that their goods should either go to the monasteries in which they do penance, or be given to their parents: yet in such a way that the maintenance of those who have been given over to penance ought to be sufficiently provided for; or, if those lapsed men were of the ecclesiastical household, that their goods not be withdrawn from ecclesiastical right, an alimentary pension being preserved for the penitents. Consult the notes to this passage of the aforesaid letter. 8. With how great solemnity the dedication of oratories then took place, and what munificence toward the poor there was at these festivals, epistle 56 teaches. The dedications of churches and oratories scarcely took place without the sacred relics that were to be enshrined in them.

But it had to be established that no body, where they were placed, had previously been buried—indeed for the best of reasons, as is explained in the note on chapter 54 of book i. That in the provinces of Italy more closely bound to the Roman see as to their metropolis no consecrations of churches were then made, Mabillon does not dare to assert. To this opinion, however, he greatly inclines, and not without reason. But of this argument there will perhaps be a more fitting place for speaking elsewhere. Meanwhile read epistle 37 of book v. Argument. 1. Concerning the case of Natalis, bishop of Salona. 2. The archdeacon deposed by him appeals to the Apostolic See. 3. What matters concern Natalis. He comes to his senses. 4. Upon his death, St Gregory takes care of choosing a successor.

Honoratus the archdeacon was elected. 5. The emperor Maurice deals more mildly with the schismatics. 6. The Lombards press upon Rome. 7. St Gregory expounds the prophet Ezekiel. The mournful state of Rome. (Years 591 and 592.) 1. Now the order of events and the reckoning of the times require that we speak of Natalis, bishop of Salona, metropolitan of Dalmatia. He, having long rebelled against the supreme pontiff, in this second year of Gregory, at last happily returned to a saner mind, overcome by his invincible magnanimity and patience. This bishop was reported, having abandoned pastoral care, to give himself over to banquets alone, and—what is graver—to have sold off the sacred vessels and the precious furnishings of the Church in order to enrich his own people.

When Honoratus the archdeacon stood in the way of this sacrilege, because it was his duty to keep the sacred things safe, Natalis, in order to remove him from this office, wished under the guise of honor—though he was unwilling—to ordain him priest; for a priest could not then discharge the office of archdeacon, as we have observed chiefly from St Leo and Apollinaris Sidonius in the notes on the epistles indicated. He took care that his sentence concerning the deposition of Honoratus from the archdeaconate be ratified in the council of his province and confirmed by the synodal acts. Than which indeed nothing could be more iniquitous, nothing more absurd: for by the same judgment Honoratus was repelled from the ministry of the archdeacon as unworthy, and was taken up to the priesthood as worthy. (See book i, epp. 19 and 20; book

ii, epp. 18, 19 and 20; book ii, ep. 52.) 2. Honoratus had already made complaint of the violence done to him, and had taken refuge with Pope Pelagius; who had ordered that both—namely the archbishop and the archdeacon—be present at least through proctors, that he might render judgment on that controversy. St Gregory, in the first year of his pontificate, again summoned the delaying and procrastinating Natalis to plead his cause, and commanded that before all things he restore Honoratus to his former rank. But in the following year he threatened him with the privation of the pallium, if he should refuse to comply, and finally with excommunication, so that he should be kept back from the Body and Blood of the Lord, unless he amended his misdeeds.

As to the bishopric, whether he ought to remain in it, he reserved to be determined by another judgment. Moreover he judged that the archdeacon ordained in place of Honoratus should be punished with deposition, and, if beyond this he should presume to minister in his office, he pronounced him to be deprived of holy communion. Of these things Gregory informed all the bishops of Dalmatia and Antoninus the subdeacon, rector of the ecclesiastical patrimony in this province, whom he bids to announce to both—premising exhortations to each—the sentence passed against Natalis and against the archdeacon intruded by him. And lest Jobinus, prefect of Illyricum,

should patronize Natalis (for he took him to be most pleasing to the nobles whom he received at banquets), he asked him by a letter written not to bear aid to the accused against justice. (See book i, epp. 19 and 20.) 3. Natalis took it ill that the pope had threatened him with the penalty of excommunication, and wrote to him in his own defense: that banquets do not misbecome a bishop, since they are read to be commended and praised in Sacred Scripture and among the ancient Christians; that to him, pressed by tribulations, it was not free to give effort to sacred reading, but that the work of preaching was not on that account interrupted.

What he answered concerning the sacred vessels sold off, what concerning Honoratus torn away from the archdeaconate, is passed over in silence in the letter which Gregory judged should be written to the same man, that he might, with pious humility, soothe the exasperated man—who nevertheless promised sincere obedience—and instruct him in the spirit of gentleness, as the Apostle teaches. Let us admire him thus infusing, with words gentle yet effective, at once oil and wine into the wounds of Natalis: «Behold,» he says, «your fraternity took it ill to be reprehended concerning banquets, whereas I, who—though not in life yet in place—transgress, am prepared to be corrected by all, to be amended by all» (Book ii, ep. 52). He adds, after much:

«But if any one of the four patriarchs had done this» (namely, had despised the judgments of the Apostolic See), «so great contumacy could by no means have passed without the gravest scandal. Yet after your fraternity returned to your own order, neither am I mindful of my own injury nor of that of my predecessor» (Ibid.). Natalis's penitence brought great joy to Gregory, of which he informed John of Ravenna in these words that same year: «Concerning our brother and fellow bishop Natalis I was greatly grieved, because I had learned certain proud things of him; but because he himself has corrected his ways, he has consoled my sadness by conquering himself at the same time as myself» (Book ii, ep. 52). 4.

Natalis being taken from the living a little afterward, Gregory wrote to Antoninus the subdeacon, that he should be solicitous concerning the election of a successor. And because from his letter it is possible to understand what the form of elections then was, we shall subjoin here certain things excerpted from it. «Let your experience,» he says, «with all instance and all solicitude hasten to admonish the clergy and people of that same city, that with one consent they ought to elect a priest to be ordained for themselves, and, a decree having been made upon the person who shall have been elected, you shall study to transmit it to us, so that with our consent, as was the case in former times, he may be ordained.

Let this above all be your care, that in this election neither any giving of rewards intervene in any manner whatsoever, nor the patronages of any persons whatsoever prevail» (Book iii, ep. 22). What care the ministers or legates of the holy see—such as was Antoninus the subdeacon—would expend, that the goods of the Church be preserved intact when the bishop was dead, we learn from these words: «Concerning the goods and ornaments of that same church, cause a faithful inventory of the things to be drawn up in your presence.»

«And lest anything be able to perish from the things themselves, admonish Respectus the deacon and Stephen the chief of the notaries that they wholly take charge of the custody of these things, warning them that they will make satisfaction out of their own substance, if anything thereof be diminished through their negligence.» Finally, concerning supplying all things necessary for the election, he thus admonishes: «But let whatever expense shall be necessary be disbursed through the steward who is found at the time of the aforesaid bishop's death, so that he himself may set forth his accounts to the future bishop, as he knows how.» These things were not to be lightly passed over, in which shines forth so great an authority of the Roman see, even over the metropolitan churches outside Italy.

Sometimes Gregory gave this care of elections to the bishops (Book i, ep. 57; book ii, ep. 38), sometimes even to judges and magistrates, as epistle 15 of book iii, written on that matter to the Judge of Campania, is evidence. But to laymen he handed over no power over the goods of the Church, only granting to them the opportunity of convoking the Christian people to elect a bishop. Honoratus the archdeacon, of whom it has already often been said, was elected by the clergy as archbishop of Salona; which was most pleasing to Gregory: for he held clearly perceived the probity, constancy, and prudence in conducting affairs of this man. But Maximus, relying on the authority of the nobles, invaded his see, as will be said below in its own place:

for what we have here touched upon concerning the death of Natalis and the election of his successor has been said by anticipation, so that in one and the same series whatever might pertain to the controversy stirred up between him and Honoratus might be set, gathered together, before our eyes. Now let us return whither the order of the times recalls us. 5. Since in Italy the affairs of the empire were tottering, lest the schismatics of Venetia and Istria, driven by desperation, should make surrender to the Lombards, if they were compelled to abjure the schism, Maurice Augustus admonished Gregory that he should for the time abstain from force and coercion. Recently Grado, the see of Severus, patriarch of the schismatics, had been laid waste by fire;

which moved John of Ravenna to request of the holy pontiff that he take care to send alms thither (Book ii, ep. 46); to whom he replied that Severus had abundance, wherefrom to lavish gifts upon the courtiers and to draw them to his own side against the Apostolic See. Mercy indeed was not to be denied to the enemies of the Church, but first to be shown to the faithful. But nearby was a city, many of whose citizens had been carried off into captivity, for whose redemption abbot Claudius was to be sent with money. This conflagration of Grado we believe to have happened when Agilulf set out against the three dukes who had rebelled. Of these, Minulf, duke of the Island of St Julian [or St

Julius] Island, who had defected to the Franks and had openly favored their side, was conquered and slain. Gaidulf [al. Gandulf] of Pergamum or Bergamo, having made surrender, was received into favor; but Ulfari, duke of Treviso, his city taken, was thrown into chains. (Cf. Paul the Deacon, book iv, ch. 3.) 6. In this year Ariulf, the second duke of Benevento after Faroald, invaded the Roman territory, and of the Roman people «he either killed or mutilated very many,» says Gregory (Book ii, ep. 46), who out of sorrow fell into a bilious ailment; by which he here signifies perhaps cholera or the bile whereby the intestines and stomach were troubled.

The Roman exarch increased the sadness, who, although unequal to war, nevertheless with all his effort fought against peace, hunting for gain out of the public calamities. Rome was well-nigh empty of all garrison, and those who had been left for the guard of the walls by Theodosius, since they were not receiving their stipends, could scarcely be compelled to the watches and other military duties. The exarch had led out the remaining forces, with which, his army augmented, he had suddenly, as by a rush, recovered Sutrium, Polimartium, Horta, Tudertum, Ameria, and Perusia. Hence Gregory complains, writing to Maurice (Book v, ep. 40), that Rome had been abandoned in order that Perusia might be held:

but above all that pious angel of peace bitterly laments the peace, which he himself had obtained from the Lombards holding Etruria, being rashly violated. Thus, when so great a hope of pacifying all Italy had shone upon him—since Ariulf himself was already inclining to the side of the Romans, nor did king Agilulf shrink from peace, mollified by Theodelinda, who was most observant of Gregory—a more atrocious war, on account of the treachery of the Roman exarch, broke out afresh. For the king, to avenge the injury done in bad faith to his people, besieged and stormed Perusia, capturing Maurisio, duke of the Lombards, who had defected to the Romans. (Cf. Paul the Deacon, book iv, ch. 8.) The already praised letter is to be read in full (Book ii, ep.

46), that it may be explored how great was the pope's care in those calamitous times: that the imperiled cities might be succored, that those captured in war might be redeemed with money given from the Church's treasury, but above all that peace, wholly necessary in such deplorable circumstances, might be procured on fair conditions. From other letters written this year it is clear how solicitous, how skilled he was in military matters (Ibid., epp. 3, 29, 30, 31.) 7. In that expedition of Agilulf of which we have spoken, the Lombards not only befouled with depredations, fires, and slaughters the Roman territory neighboring Perusia, but encamped at the very walls of the City. Then St

Doctor was expounding the prophet Ezekiel to the Christian people with the same tranquillity of mind as if nothing were to be feared from the enemy. Nor, after he learned that the king had already crossed the Po and was hastening to the siege of the City, did he interrupt the work begun—which Bernard rightly admires. But I abstain from reporting his words, which may be read in the preface to the homilies on Ezekiel, as also the other things that pertain to those homilies. Yet with the enemy now imminent upon the City, he was compelled to make an end of preaching, as he himself says. I attach this part of the last homily, because in it the miserable state of Rome may be seen set, as it were, before our eyes.

«Behold these things, dearest brethren, as by God's bounty we could, we have searched out before you. But let no one reprehend me, if after this discourse I shall cease: because, as you all discern, our tribulations have grown; on every side we are surrounded by swords, on every side we fear the imminent peril of death. Some return to us with their hands cut off, others are reported captured, others slain. Now I am compelled to restrain my tongue from exposition, because my soul is weary of my life.» Elsewhere he attests that he saw Romans bound like dogs by ropes on their necks, who were being led away for sale to Francia (Book v, ep. 40). O hard the lot of those who were once lords of the world!

This expedition of Agilulf is usually reckoned among the affairs transacted in the year 595, but that it rather pertains to the year 592, these things persuade me. Agilulf attempted Rome when he set out for the storming of Perusia, as is gathered from Paul the Deacon: «The king, having straightway gone forth from Ticinum, made for Perusia... by the coming of this king blessed Pope Gregory was so terrified, that he desisted from the exposition of the temple concerning which Ezekiel had written» (Book iv, ch. 8). That this happened as soon as the king had learned that Perusia, with the other cities already enumerated, had been occupied by the exarch, the same writer clearly teaches. But that the Roman exarch had gained possession of Perusia at least in the second year of the pontificate of St

Gregory, he himself writes in a letter given this year, which ought to be compared with another already often praised (Book ii, ep. 46; book v, ep. 40). Argument. 1. Rome labors under famine. 2. What Gregory suffered from his adversaries. 3. He obtains peace from the Lombards. 4. How estranged he was from base gain. 5. He complains of the rapines of the judges. 6. He deposes an archdeacon for pride. 7. He confers the office of the holy see upon Maximian. 8. Various things established by him. 9. He was most observant of the laws of friendship. 10. He reconciles Maximian the bishop and Eusebius the abbot. He gives to both most prudent counsels. 11. A privilege granted to the monastery of Arunium. (Years 591 and 592.) 1.

In the same year, to the conflagration of war by which the Roman territory blazed, was added the scourge of famine, on account of which their enemies and rivals dared to accuse Gregory the prefect of the City, Castorius the master of soldiers, and the supreme pontiff, of the crime of negligence before the Emperor—although our Gregory had applied every care to drive off this scarcity: for since in the previous year, on account of the barrenness, few crops had been gathered in Italy, he had at the opportune time given effort that through Peter the subdeacon (Book i, ep. 72) a great supply of grain might be procured in Sicily, or from the tenant-farmers of the ecclesiastical estates, yet without their being harassed. And thereafter he had taken care that many freight ships by which it might be conveyed be at hand;

but he assigns this cause of the want which the City suffered, namely that grain cannot long be kept at Rome uncorrupted. And with the enemy imminent and the roads besieged, it was not possible to succor the City with new supplies from time to time. 2. Incredible then shone forth Gregory's constancy, both in bearing calumnies with equanimity, and in asserting, against the detractors, the innocence of the illustrious men joined to him in friendship. It was not obscure that the Roman exarch, to divert from himself the odium of affairs unhappily conducted, had cast it upon the prefect of the City and the supreme pontiff himself. Of him St Gregory speaks thus in a letter to Sebastian, bishop of Sirmium:

«What things, most holy brother, we suffer in this land from the person of your friend the lord Romanus, we are by no means able to speak. Yet briefly I say, that his malice toward us has conquered the swords of the Lombards; so that the enemies who kill us seem kinder than the judges of the commonwealth, who by their malice, rapines, and deceits consume us in anxious thought. And to bear at one time the care of bishops and clerics, of monasteries too, and of the people; to be solicitously vigilant against the ambushes of the enemy; to be ever suspicious against the deceits and malices of the dukes—of what labor, of what grief this is, let your fraternity weigh so much the more truly, the more purely he loves me who suffer these things» (Book v, ep. 42). 3.

A little afterward, Agilulf withdrew his camp, brought up to the walls of the City. That peace was then made, at the persuasion of Theodelinda, Paul the Deacon relates. To her counsels there were added Gregory's prayers and gifts, by which he was accustomed to redeem the liberty and life of the Roman people, as he himself describes, setting forth the state of affairs to Constantina Augusta: «For twenty-seven years now we pass, in that we live in this city amid the swords of the Lombards. How many things are daily disbursed to them by this Church, that we may be able to live among them, need not be suggested.»

«But briefly I indicate, that just as in the parts of Ravenna the piety of the lords has a paymaster with the chief army of Italy, who makes daily expenditures upon supervening cases, so also in this city in such cases I am their paymaster. And nevertheless this Church, which at one and the same time expends so many things unceasingly upon clerics, monasteries, the poor, the people, and moreover upon the Lombards, behold is still pressed by the affliction of all the Churches» (Book v, ep. 21). 4.

That the resources of the Roman Church (while its patrimonies and estates everywhere lay open to plunder) sufficed for so many necessities, with Gregory dispensing them, seems next to a miracle—especially since he held nothing more important than to make good the damages inflicted upon the tenants and peasants by the guardians and stewards of the Church's patrimonies, as we observed above, and to guard against them for the future. How much he abhorred unjust exactions, these words of epistle 44 of book i indicate: «We do not wish the purse of the Church to be defiled by base gains.» Nay more, in the Roman council [formerly ep. 44, book iv, now at the end of the Epistles

He judged that not only the administrators of the Church's patrimonies, who were striving to enlarge them beyond what was fitting and were invading the boundaries of others by affixing false title-markers, should be punished with the penalty of anathema, but also the very bishops themselves, if they either commanded such things to be done or did not forbid them. 5. But his fairness, his integrity, and his greatness of soul nowhere shine more brightly than in the letter to the Empress Constantina, written on this occasion (Book V, Letter 41). When he had learned that not a few of the heathen still survived in Sardinia, and that the island's priests, out of sloth, were too little concerned for their conversion,

he took care to send there a certain bishop from Italy, by whose preaching very many came to the faith, receiving baptism and ceasing to sacrifice to idols. But because they had earlier been accustomed to pay some sum to the governor or judge in order to obtain the license to sacrifice, the judge, unwilling to be deprived of this shameful gain, was exacting the same tribute even from the baptized, who now served no other than the true God. When rebuked for this matter by the bishop, he had answered that so great a sum of money was demanded of himself that, unless he raised it by these unjust exactions, he could not pay it. So too the inhabitants of the island of Corsica were oppressed by such immense exactions that they could scarcely satisfy them even by selling their own children;

nor was Sicily harassed by lesser depredations. Of these crimes and robberies Gregory informed the Empress, so that concerning them, at a suitably chosen time, she might take care to remind Maurice. But in this letter he anticipated what the emperor could reply: namely, that whatever was gathered from the aforesaid islands was transmitted for the expenses of Italy. To which the most holy Pope says: But I suggest this, that even if less be granted for the expenses in Italy, he should nevertheless, by his own imperial authority, restrain the tears of the oppressed. For perhaps it is for this very reason that such great expenditures profit less toward usefulness in this land, because they are collected with some admixture of sin.

Let the most serene lords therefore command that nothing be collected with sin. And I know that, even if less is contributed to the advantages of the commonwealth, the commonwealth is thereby greatly helped. And even if it should perhaps happen that it be less helped by smaller revenues, it is nevertheless better that we should not live in a temporal way than that you should find any obstacle to eternal life. For consider what minds, what feelings, parents can have when they sell off their own children lest they be tortured. Now let us turn to ecclesiastical matters. 6.

At the beginning of this second year of Gregory's pontificate, Laurentius, archdeacon of the Roman Church (he perhaps who had been appointed at Constantinople in his stead when Gregory himself was returning to Rome, by Pope Pelagius), was deposed on account of pride and other faults. His place was taken by Honoratus, in a synod of all the priests and deacons and of the whole clergy (at the end of the Letter, formerly at the beginning of Book II); so that the supreme pontiff might make plain how much it was at heart for him to remove the unworthy from the sacred ministry — understanding most wisely that the commonwealth, even the ecclesiastical one, is held together, as by reward, so also by punishment (Cicero, to Brutus). 7.

In the same year he entrusted the office of the Apostolic See over all the Churches of Sicily to the holy Maximian, bishop of Syracuse, of whom we have already treated: which dignity he conferred not upon the place but upon the person, understanding well from his past life what might be presumed concerning his subsequent conduct (Book II, Letter 7). Nevertheless he willed that the greater and more difficult causes be referred to himself for settlement. From a letter written to the same man a little later (ibid., Letter 24) it is clear how carefully he investigated who might seem worthy to exercise the episcopate (wherever they lay hidden), so that he might strive to promote them to the pastoral care. 8.

Among the other things worthy of note that he established this year, this decree against repeated ordinations must not be passed over cursorily: Just as one baptized once ought not to be baptized again, so he who has been consecrated once cannot be consecrated again in the same order. But if perchance anyone comes to the priesthood with a light fault, a penance ought to be imposed for the fault, and yet the order be preserved (Book II, Letter 46). These words of the holy pontiff also are to be read attentively: Far be it from me to infringe upon the statutes of our forefathers in regard to my fellow priests in any Church whatsoever; for I do myself an injury if I disturb the rights of my brethren (Book II, Letter 52).

By these words he showed how religious a cultivator he was of the episcopal power instituted by Christ, even in bishops subject to him. He testifies the same in writing back to Bishop Dominicus: Concerning ecclesiastical privileges, what your Fraternity writes, hold this without any doubt: that just as we defend our own, so we preserve to each several Church its own rights. And to no one, though grace favor him, do I grant beyond what he deserves, nor from anyone do I detract that which is proper to his limits, though ambition goad me; but I desire to honor my brethren in all things (ibid., Letter 47). 9.

Two bishops had brought to Gregory, as a mark of honor, Dominicus's letter congratulating him on his assumption of the pontificate, and to them two attendants had been assigned, one deacon and the other a notary. Since he could not return the like honors (for that would have been foreign to his supreme dignity), he at least repaid love with love, and that even with interest — being no less careful to preserve the rights of friendship than those of the episcopate. This will be held for certain by anyone who reads this letter to Dominicus. For how great is the fragrance of charity in these words: Let us, most holy brother, hold fast with unshaken steadfastness to this mother and guardian of the virtues (that is, love). Let no tongues of deceivers diminish it in us, let no snares of the ancient enemy corrupt it.

For this it is that joins together things divided, and guards things joined. This raises up the humble without swelling. This bows down the exalted without casting them down. Through this the unity of the universal Church, which is the framework of the body of Christ, rejoices in each member by an equality of mind, though there be also disparity in the diversity of the members. Through this these same members both, being afflicted, leap for joy at another's gladness, and, being glad, pine away at another's sorrows. For, as the teacher of the Gentiles testifies, while if one member suffers, the other members suffer with it, and if one member is glorified, all the members rejoice together, I do not doubt that you groan over our disturbance, since it is altogether certain that we rejoice over your peace. And after many things:

Through the bond of charity, both what I speak of myself is yours, and what I earnestly desire you to do is mine. 10. That we may glean a few things concerning monastic affairs pertaining to the second year of Gregory's pontificate, nothing more worthy of note occurs to us than the Pope's solicitude in composing the dissension between Maximian, bishop of Syracuse, and Eusebius the abbot. Of how great sanctity Maximian was, has already been said by us more than once. That the office of the Holy See was committed to him by Gregory at the beginning of this year, we have recorded above. Yet the holy pontiff judged that this holy man, and almost foremost among his intimates, was to be reproved on account of the excommunication he had inflicted, from a rather slight cause and out of a movement of the mind, upon the abbot Eusebius.

On this matter he thought he ought to be admonished by Peter the subdeacon, who was acting in Sicily for the affairs of the Roman See, to whom he writes thus: I have taken it ill that Maximian excommunicated the lord Eusebius, a man of such great age and such great infirmity. Wherefore it is necessary that you say secretly to the same lord bishop, that in pronouncing sentences he be not precipitate, for causes which are to be decided by sentence must first be weighed with diligent and most frequent consideration (Book II, Letter 32). Note the title of 'lord' granted by the Pope himself, out of honor, to the aged abbot.

Nor was it enough for Gregory to address Maximian through Peter, but he admonished him by letter to endeavor to soothe and console Eusebius, who was exasperated by such great fury. In this letter he recalls to Maximian's mind how often he had admonished him not to be precipitate in pronouncing sentence (Book II, Letter 34). He marvels that he had blazed up in such fury against the abbot, whose long-standing manner of life, great age, and long-lasting infirmity ought to have turned the bishop's mind away from anger. For whatever excess there may have been in him, he says, the very affliction of his infirmity ought to have sufficed him as a scourge.... but perhaps you were permitted to go to excess against such a person, so that you might become more cautious in lesser matters.

Would that prelates and rulers always kept before their eyes these admonitions of the most holy doctor in their judgments toward their subjects. Maximian complied, and wished to restore communion and grace to Eusebius; but the abbot refused to accept it. Wherefore St. Gregory strove to recall him to his duty by this letter: Let your Charity believe me, that I have been greatly saddened by your sadness, as if I myself had suffered the injury in you. But when I afterward learned that, even when the most reverend man, our brother and fellow bishop Maximian, was restoring grace and communion, your Dilection was unwilling to be communicated with by him, I recognized also that what was formerly done was just.

The humility of the servants of God ought to appear in the time of affliction. But those who raise themselves up against their superiors are assuredly shown to disdain to be servants of God. And indeed, this which was done ought by no means to have been done by that man; yet by you it ought to have been received with all humility; and again, when he was restoring grace, he ought to have been met with a giving of thanks. Because this was not so done by you, from this I recognize that there is altogether need of tears for us. For it is no great thing to be humble toward those by whom we are honored, since even any worldly persons do this; but we ought to be humble most of all toward those from whom we suffer something. For the Psalmist says: Behold my humiliation from my enemies.

Of what life are we, we who are unwilling to be humble even toward our fathers? Therefore, most beloved son, I beg that all bitterness may pass from your heart, lest perhaps the end be near, and the ancient enemy, through the iniquity of discord, bar the way of the heavenly kingdom. We have judged that this almost entire, wholly golden letter should be here reprinted, that from it all may learn humility and reverence even toward superiors who act unjustly. But lest Eusebius should perhaps be exasperated by this free rebuke, in order to mollify him he took care that a hundred solidi be paid out to him by Peter the subdeacon for the necessities of his monastery; which proves at once both the man's supreme liberality and his prudence. 11.

In another way he composed the quarrels between the bishop of Rimini and the monks of the monastery of Saints Andrew and Thomas at Rimini, to whom he granted an ample privilege, which he signified to Castorius, bishop of Rimini, in these words: We exhort your Fraternity, that when the abbot of that monastery dies, your Church should on no occasion involve itself in describing and providing for the acquired or to-be-acquired possessions of the same monastery. But we wish you to ordain as abbot for that same monastery no other, but the one whom the whole congregation, by common consent, shall demand as worthy in character and fit for monastic discipline (Book II, Letter 41). Of other privileges granted in favor of the monks we shall speak below (Book III, ch. 2, no. 9).